Hi everyone!

Well I haven't been on for a while - busy, busy bee! :-)
I submitted work to a gallery recently and was accepted - so that was good news.  I am having my next exhibition next May in Skerries Mills which is great and I will be working toward that. Got five paintings framed recently so that's good too. Working on more textural pieces and trying out a few new things.
Christmas coming in fast so I will be very busy with all the celebrations, organising things, putting up tree, decorations, shopping for presents etc soon too so art will be put a bit on hold until its over.
I am showing you a new pieces I was working on recently. :-)

Hi everyone. :-)
Haven't been on for a while. Had a wonderful Halloween where we all had a party and dressed up - great fun! Christmas coming fast and furious with all the adverts on the media.

Just got the dates for my next exhibition will be from the 4th to the 17th May 2015 in Skerries Mills so I am looking forward to that and am painting away with that in mind.
Had a few framed lately and left more in.

Putting up a painting from a series I intend to do called "Shield" .
It will be about the shields we put up - layers - to protect ourselves from negative things in life.
From the day we are born, we perceive, take in and feel what is going on around us from the environment and people we interact with etc., sometimes consciously and other times sub-consciously.
In an effort for self preservation, we put up barriers/walls/thick layers and often only let ourselves be vulnerable when we feel safe.
So I will be exploring this idea in the form of various shields.
Looking forward to it.

This is one that I am starting with, not quite finished but you get the idea. :-)

One of my latest paintings
                                             - untitled as yet...
                                                                          mixed media on canvas......

Well everyone - Summer is over and beautiful Autumn is fully in with all it's luscious and vibrant colours and hues - stunningly beautiful. :-) This is my favourite season although each has it's own distinct beauty.  I was out and about taking photos for art inspiration and just because I love to capture the beauty all around me of that sense of nature caught in time. If you would like to see some of my photos over the years, you can find them on my photography page on Facebook along with my art page - Eileen Keelan photography and Eileen Keelan art.  I love being out and about walking or cycling and always bring my camera with me.
Since my exhibition, I have been doing some art work but I am shortly starting new paintings and hope to have my next exhibition in 2015. I will know of the date in November.
In the meantime, enjoy the lovely Autumn days in all it's glory and I am putting up a large watercolour that I did in 2012 for you to see. Talk to you all again soon. :-)

"Woodland"....watercolour on paper.....66cm x 56cm...

Enjoy!

Hi everyone! :-)
Summer near it's end and got very cold and wet - reminding us of what winter will be like soon enough!
Beautiful Autumn colouring coming into nature everywhere including my gorgeous virginia creeper outside my back door and kitchen window - beautiful to look at!! :-)
I had my grandson, Jack up for the past week and really enjoyed having him - growing up to be a lovely young man! :-)
Doing a few changes in my garden to have less maintenance. Taking part of one rockery bed and putting it in a different place and clearing out one patch completely at back door to give more space. Might also take down back arch.
My brother and family over visiting us all at the moment from Perth, western Australia and had great catch up on things and great laughs today! :-D They are such great people. Not staying with me but staying with my sister but called today and calling again on Wednesday and we are going down to visit daughter Alwin and son Julian.
Working on a few bits in the art studio at the moment.  Also,  I went out for a walk across the cliffs and fields the other evening and came across gorgeous cabbages in a field with the bottom leaves decaying producing these gorgeous rich colours so decided to do a bit of an abstract art project on them as they were so beautiful. I am putting up pics. Not sure if I will do much more or may change it completely but I so much enjoyed doing these! :-)

Worked on this one over the past few days - not sure yet if I will leave it as is or do more to it.

"Lily"
 mixed media on linen canvas.....

Hi all! :-)

Well Summer heading towards its close soon and kiddies all preparing for going back to school - or should I say, their parents are preparing for it! :-}
Weather still holding up quite good apart from heavy rain last weekend - our festival suffered locally from it I think. Still very warm though. Notice autumn colour in the leaves in the garden already, possibly because of losing their chlorophyll due to the extremely dry weather we have had for so long. It looks beautiful.
My daughter, Severene, granddaughter Hayleigh and grandson Kyle came up from Cork for the weekend and we all enjoyed the weekend together.
 Iv'e been out and about taking some photos for ref  and inspiration for new art work coming up, really enjoyed doing that - love the outdoors!
Did a huge amount of gardening yesterday, pruning back loads that had thrived so well this Summer. :-) Just after cleaning up and pruning back in the alleyway with two of my neighbours and the back lane is so neat and clean now!
Aiva, Glenn's girlfriend, came up and painted my front pillars and wall yesterday and it looks so good now with that freshening up!
Hope you are all enjoying the rest of the Summer.
Putting up a little piece that I did a while back.
Talk to you all again soon.


Untitled as yet....mixed media on paper....

Hi everyone!

Hope all is well with you all. :-)
  I'm trying to get back into working in my art studio again after my exhibition and slowly getting there. Had a bit of a break but I have started working on new paintings.
  I sold 4 paintings at the exhibition and this morning I have just sold a 5th so I am very happy. :-)
It was bought as a birthday present for someone special so that is great. Rush Harbour Festival is on this weekend here so that should be lovely and I especially love the craft stalls and always buy something. A great buzz around the town !
I hope you all will enjoy the long weekend and I will be on again soon with an image of my next finished painting. :-)

Hi everyone! :-)

The exhibition is on now for the past four days and I am having a nice bit of feedback about my work.

The "Embryo - autumn leaf fall" is one of the favourites and I could have sold it three times!
 "Flow I"  is a popular one with much interest.
 Also "Blackberry brambles towards Drumanagh", an oil .
 Good interest in "Serene reflections" and "Magpie" was mentioned a few times.  Also the core paintings of the exhibition which I titled "Nature reclaims"  of  "New life on dead wood", "Begonia on old wood" and  "The old stone wall"  were favourites and many others were also mentioned so overall I am enjoying hearing what people think about my paintings.
 On until next saturday, 19th July so still time for anyone who hasn't seen it yet to go along.
Working on this little miniature painting yesterday!

Mixed media on canvas board........

Hi everyone! :-)
Well my exhibition is going very well and we had a lovely opening night with many attending. Good feedback, chat, laughs, discussions on art etc., happy days! :-D

Getting nearer to my exhibition - four more coming back from the framer today. :-)
I am looking forward to getting feedback from people about my work, I hope they like it.
Finishing up on a few things, stuff to be printed out still. I should have about 30 paintings, not quite sure about one or two yet. In the meantime, I am showing you a new little mixed media on paper that I did. See what you think. :-)

Physalis" - Chinese lanterns... mixed media on paper.
 Love the colour and textures of these plants!!

Well its all go, go, go here - getting paintings ready for my exhibition on the 7th! :-) Another three in with my framer and another two to go. I should have about 30 - 32 works.
The word is out and a few people have approached me about it and said they will see me there on the opening night and are looking forward to it - so fingers crossed a few will turn up anyway but its on till the 19th so plenty of time for them to see the paintings.
Hope you are all enjoying that wonderful weather!

Still on the oil pastels with this little one.... may do more work on it yet but don't want to overwork it.  :-)

I am back using oil pastels this week after not using them for quite a while.  :-) I really like this medium - the feel of the them and the applying of them layer upon layer on the toothed paper. I love that you can have them smooth or make great textures with them. This is a small painting that I did during the week. I call it "Diffused Light". Hope you like it.

                                         

                                                 Eileen Keelan      -      Art Exhibition.
                                              _________________________________
                                      

The venue for my art exhibition will be in Rush Library, Rush, Co. Dublin from the 7th to the 19th July. 

Paintings will be hung from Monday evening of the 7th July with an opening of the exhibition between the hours of 5pm (17.00) and 7.30pm (19.30).

The exhibition may be seen during library opening hours for the duration of the exhibition which are as follows:

Mon/Wed:          1.30pm   -     8pm 

Tues/Thurs:       10am      -     1pm
                          2pm        -     5pm

Fri/Sat:             10am      -     1pm
                          1.45pm   -     5pm

_________________________________________________________________________________

"Serene Reflections"

Small landscape in oil... 25.4cm x 20.32cm

Hi everyone!

I was away in Spain for a week with my sister to her place in a place called Torrox on the costa del sol in the south of the country and had a nice relaxing break. :-) The weather was up and down, with some overcast days and one day it rained quite a bit but other than that it was lovely and it was very warm. We went into the nearby town of Nerja (10mins away) and did some shopping and sunbathing on the sea front. This town is so pretty with the famous 'Balcon de Europa' a favourite place to visit and lots of lovely little restaurants all vying for business. I bought some lovely hand-crafted tiles in a little shop by a local artist which I always go back to each year as I love his work. I would love to have bought some of his large colourful glass bowls but I wouldn't be able to bring them back in my luggage. He uses beautiful rich reds, oranges, blues, whites in his glassware and also some jewellery.
The beautiful oranges of the roof-tops against the rich white of house walls are beautiful in Spain and the many colours of lovely bouganvillia flowers and stunning blue flowered trees are beautiful! :-)
Where we were staying there are many retired English people and we have got to know them all well - and their dogs!! They bring their dogs for walks many times a day. We also go on long walks down the hillside by the local farmer's fields and see the goats being herded on the goat-track which is lovely as both my sister and I love the nature aspect of our holidays. They grow lots of fruit, like lemons and avocados and tomatoes are grown everywhere in plastic and mesh covered structures. I bought a few lovely items at the local Monday open market inhe including a nice dress which I wore out one evening when we went for an Indian meal in the local Taj Mahal restaurant. Overall it was a lovely holiday but so disappointing to come back to the same wet, cold and overcast weather in Ireland which I had left behind before I left! Hopefully it will change soon.
I am putting a few photos up for you. :-)

On another note - I am working away at getting paintings ready for my solo exhibition coming up on the 8th to 19th of July in our local library here in Rush, Co. Dublin. Three back from the framer yesterday and and another two gone in. Busy...busy...  :-) xx